Help us build an online "memory book" by your experiences and reflections on life in the time of Covid-19, in the Roe Jan community, and about the many ways that living through this pandemic have impacted you and your family's lives. These will become part of the historical record for the future.
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Sent to RJHS via email - Coronavirus Can Sometimes Open Doors Coronavirus has both closed many doors while opening others. In my case it has caused me to be separated from meaningful family get togethers, while at the same time taught me to find other sources of gratification. Because of the virus I was unable to leave my home, so a member of the Copake Grange offered to shop for me. Because of this a new friendship developed. During one of our many phone conversations I mentioned that I had begun clearing out some wild bushes and was thinking about filling this newly emptied space with a year-round ground cover and flowers. I was amazed at the gardening knowledge and assistance…
STORY SENT TO RJHS VIA EMAIL Two weeks ago I attended a memorial service and celebration of my friend of 38 years via Zoom. She died of COVID-19 while living in senior housing. Senior housing includes Independent, Assisted Living and Nursing facilities. These facilities have been devastated by SARS-CoV-2. I have attended graduation and other events via zoom, but It is a strange experience to attend a memorial and celebration of a life via zoom. It was beautifully done, but for me disquieting. She loved gardening and she predicted that so would I, one day, when I first met her and asked her “Who ever gardens?”. We lived in Manhattan and I knew no one who gardened except my grandmother. Her prediction came true and I have…
On Friday, March 13, 2020, my wife Janet and I walked the 2 miles from our apartment to the MetroNorth Railroad Station in Harlem (as we usually do) and took the train to Dover Plains, got in our car and drove to our log cabin on Weed Mine Road. On the following XX, I learned that my youngest brother’s wife had passed away in Florida where they lived. Torn between wanting to be with my brother and be prudent about the coronavirus situation, I called him, told him I had planned to be with him, but decided it would be better to plan a future visit. How wise that decision proved to be. As things changed rapidly within a few…
Taking Stock of the Pandemic
by Howard Blue
From research about my own family I know that my grandfather survived a case of the so called “Spanish Flu” in 1918. I never imagined, however, that my immediate family and I would experience anything like that more than a hundred years later. But here we are in June of 2020 trying to stave off viral threats to our lives.
One of the things that seems to bedevil my wife and me is the need to constantly put on a mask when interacting with people. We've found ourselves at times too close, maskless, talking to a couple of people doing repairs at our house. We're pleased when we go to stores and…
Boston Corners, June 16, 2020
On March 17 we grabbed a few things and fled from our apartment in NYC to our weekend house in Boston Corners, thinking we'd be here for just a week or so. Ha! It's June now and we're still here with a wardrobe consisting of winter coats, jeans, a couple of T-shirts. Actually the limited wardrobe saves me from the morning question: What should I wear today? No choice = no decision.
How do we feel? I feel blessed to have this place to escape from Manhattan which was the hardest hit by Covid. I was told to work remotely, however, our house was never meant to be a home office. No internet, no cell…